They stole our fruit,
they cut off our branches,
they burnt our trunks,
but they could not kill our roots.

The indigenous people have their own deep-rooted cultural heritage
through which they experience the basis of life itself. These conditions provide hope for
life, both for mankind and for the nature of which Man is so integral a part. For five
hundred years unscrupulous forces have waged war against our people. They have forced
access to our resources and they have stolen our spiritual values. They have
attempted to subdue, bribe, or extirpate whole populations. They have trampled justice
into the dust, and they have introduced legislation in order to justify their injustice.
For more than five hundred years our people have fought against this injustice. In the
course of time millions of brave people have lost their lives in the fight to create a
better world for our children. And the fight continues to claim its victims.

This fight for freedom now requires a new impetus to bring us out of the darkness in which
we have been enveloped for so long. Once again the sun majestically rises into sight,
giving new life to Mother Earth, to our people, and to all the people of the Earth. From
the depths of the virgin forests and the darkness of the mountains can be heard the voices
of the oppressed  demanding justice, freedom and democracy for all our people.
Despite the many murders perpetrated against a defenceless population, we still feel the
dead walking by our side, their voices blending with ours, their hearts beating in our
breasts.

The San Andrés agreements of February 1996, signed by the federal government and the
EZLN, strongly emphasised the need to create a new relationship between the State of
Mexico, the national community, and the indigenous population. Unfortunately, as we
approach the millennium, the government continues to go back on its word, and instead
commits new atrocities against our people. On 22 December 1997, paramilitaries massacred
45 martyrs in the village of Acteal in Chiapas. Men, women and children were murdered
while they prayed for peace. Together with the many other thousands of victims of the
brutal power of money, they will give us new strength in our march forwards.

No Mexico without our involvement!
Mexico needs its indigenous people
Mexico  no longer without our participation!
Mexico for the people  all its people!